Small Business Server 2008: A Fresh Perspective
So, they sent an entire computer...
And not just any old computer you might find lying around the back of someone's cubicle, but a brand new, 50-pound, beast of a Supermicro server-class machine.
But wait. A little background first. Not long ago, I was approached by Microsoft to do a review of the new Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 to be released relatively soon. This update to SBS first and foremost switches the core operating system (OS) from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008, but also includes some new features and upgrades goodies. Having relatively little experience with SBS 2003, I figured this was a great opportunity for a fresh take on this new solution from the perspective of a relative SBS newbie.
We first sat down for a 2-hour presentation between me and a number of teams at Microsoft. The presentation was interesting, discussing the changes to their interface between the two versions and what to expect out of the Server 2008 version of this SMB-friendly solution. But then, a couple of days later, I get a knock at the door. On the other side is a weary and overloaded delivery person from Southwest Airlines dragging in an impossibly large box filled with this humongous server. Turns out that for this review, Microsoft somewhat astutely wanted the review to happen from the perspective of the quasi-technical small business IT person as they unwrap their newly purchased, pre-built, and pre-installed SBS server. Nice touch.
Taking the time to unpack this behemoth, I plugged it in and booted it up. The server starts with some initial installation and configurations before prompting with the standard Windows Server 2008 WinPE setup screen. There is the opportunity to select the typical settings such as country, time and currency, keyboard, product key, and license terms. After a bit more waiting, you're taken to the wizard for setting up SBS 2008.
The wizard then asks for common startup elements such as clock and time zone, downloading any required updates, company information, server name, domain name, and administrator account information. Once completed here, the SBS installation begins. The wizard and accompanying paperwork mentions that the process that can take upwards of 30 minutes to complete. However, on this four-processor server with 8GB of RAM, it actually took around 80 minutes to return control...
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Comments
I really have a Love-Hate Relationship with SBS.
First the good things: The pricing can't be beaten - it's awesome to get so much for so little money. Microsoft reasonably automated the setup in SBS 2003, and fully automated it in SBS 2008, making deployment a breeze.
The bad things: Microsoft for some reasons thinks that a Small Business owner can setup SBS on their own. This is a bad idea. I don't care that much about lost business (i just get a salary), but i care about the fact that i often have to clean up SBS installations done by people without enough knowledge. And Microsoft advocates this.
The problem here is that SBS is actually more complex than a "normal" Setup. SBS runs Exchange, DC, Fax, Files, everything on a single machine (SQL/ERP on a second in 08 - Great!). This makes debugging problems a lot harder as none of the components are isolated.
SBS is more complicated and you have less possibilities of fixing a problem the "hard way". e.G. if you have a issue with your backup software that neither you nor their support seem to able to resolve you can't just say "lets reinstall Windows on the backup server".
Posted by: Lukas Beeler | August 15, 2008 3:23 AM
THIS is what small business owners SHOULD be able to buy, and SHOULD be able to set up themselves: A bundled, turnkey server. If in fact it isn't turnkey, then Microsoft's done something wrong and they should fix it. But when buying a product like SBS, a small business customer who just wants a default, working installation shouldn't need to hire a consultant - the need to do so would represent a product failure.
I can understand SBS "going wrong" on a machine that already has Windows installed, perhaps - once Microsoft doesn't have control over the base OS, things can go wrong. But if the OS install is part of the setup, then they've got full control and things should go perfectly. And they're justified in selling this as a DIY solution - provided it works as advertised.
Posted by: Don Jones | August 15, 2008 12:39 PM